The Wall Street Journal brought to light the “reputation for detailed craftsmanship” enjoyed by DO Rías Baixas’ vintners in an extensive article featuring interviews with five women oenologists from the region: Alexia Luca de Tena, from Grupo Vinum Terrae; Katia Álvarez, from Bodegas Martín Códax; Lucía Carballeira, from Condes de Albarei; Luisa Freire, from Bodega Santiago Ruiz and Cristina Mantilla, who works with various bodegas.

The article, written by William R. Snyder, states that Rías Baixas is the only Spanish appellation to produce exclusively white wines and states that in the last two decades many winemakers have used the region as a “viticultural proving ground”.

Albariño is the region’s variety par excellence, giving rise to a very popular, value for money wine, “heavy on fruity undertones”. Its adaptability makes it the perfect match for seafood and poultry. “The women of Rías Baixas have taken a grape known for producing simple, summertime table wines and made increasingly complex wines from it using unique maceration processes and blending Albariño with other grape varietals”.

The article headed, ‘Ladies of Spain: Winemakers are breaking the Gender Barrier’, emphasises that: “Women are already a force to be reckoned with…in an area of Galicia called Rías Baixas…famous for…being hospitable to new ideas”.

On a final note, the article explained that the number of women enrolled in university winemaking programmes has increased by 40 percent since 2000. In 1990 only a handful of women winemakers worked in the region; these days they run over half of the appellation’s 189 bodegas.